Repercussions
by gleefindork
Summary: Jack returns to the Torchwood team after the Year That Never Was.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Obviously not mine. I like happy endings. Not like RTD. All rights belong to the BBC and the creators of both Torchwood and Dr. Who. **

Jack walked quickly away from the Doctor, head held high and shoulder's squared, pushing his way through the pelting rain that kept the normally bustling square empty and desolate. He told himself not to look back at what he was leaving behind. Willingly this time.

Walking across Roald Dahl Plass was the hardest thing, Jack thought, that he had ever done. And for someone who had lived the life that he had this was saying something.

Jack knew he had been away from his team for just over a year with the Doctor, but he really had no idea how long that had actually been for the Torchwood team. Was he even needed anymore? Or was he simply redundant now, an unneeded reminder of what Torchwood had been. Or, a thought suddenly gripped his heart, what if they don't forgive me. That they are angry enough with him for running away with no explanation that they cannot forgive him?

_Doesn't matter_ he thought. _They have every right to reject me. Hell, even_ I _would reject me at this point. _He slowed down his punishing walk. _And when they do, I'll be okay with it. So long as I can see that they are all alive and well. _He closed his eyes at the thought of his team's rejection. Ianto's rejection. Gwen, Owen and Tosh's rejection.

Memories of the Year that Never Was swam unwanted before his eyes. _Tosh and Owen's bodies laying still on the ground in front of him. Ianto. Ianto being hurt by the Master. Hurt to hurt Jack, then eventually killed on the whim of a psychopath. _

Stopping short of the pavement block with the perception filter, Jack sunk to the floor. 

T.W.

The Doctor turned back to his screen and started the Tardis's engine. He had been prepared for Martha to want to go back to her family. Expected it even. The Jones' family had all been together onboard the Valiant, in the eye of the storm, and as such retained all of their memories from the year that he, the Doctor, had erased. They needed to be together to recover from the experience of being held captive by the Master and seeing the earth destroyed. He frowned at the memory of what the Master had done to Jack during their time aboard the Valiant. When he took Martha home, the Doctor had understood.

But Jack? The Doctor had not expected Jack to leave him. Jack who had waited so long to be with him, to travel with him, this time as a welcome and wanted companion. But when the Doctor had offered, casually, assuming Jacks answer, Jack had declined. Telling the Doctor that his team needed him, and he them. That he had responsibilities on Earth and if the Doctor could take him back as close in time o which he left, timelines permitting, he would appreciate it.

The Doctor was loathe to admit how much that had hurt him, because Jack needed him, and secretly, the doctor needed Jack too.

Jack, with his warm and infectious grin, the humour he wore as a shield, the only other being save the Master, who was a constant in time like himself. The Doctor could see and recognise the pain and darkness hidden behind Jacks eyes. And the Doctor could empathise with it.

The Doctor turned off the Tardis.

T.W.

The Doctor walked slowly up to Jack, and gently placed his hand on the shuddering shoulder, buried beneath several layers of greatcoat.

Jack flinched from the familiar touch he would once have revelled in, and the Doctor pretended not to notice.

Sinking down, the Doctor wrapped an arm around the figure hunched over sitting in the downpour. The Captain turned his head towards the Doctor, and, had his face held any tears, the Doctor could not have made them out through the rain.

"Don't. Please." Jack croaked. He could not bear it if the Doctor pitied him. Not after having seen what the Master had reduced him to.

The Time-Lord said nothing, content to hold the broken man.

"You stayed then." The words were whispered quietly searching.

"Don't be daft Jack. I can't just leave you." He regretted the words the minute they were spoken.

Jack smiled at the Doctor looking painfully cheery.

"C'mon Doc'. You know I forgave you a long time ago–"

"Jack," the Doctor interrupted. "I am sorry. I'm sorry that I left you to die. I'm sorry that Rose resurrected you, condemning you to this life. I'm sorry I ran away from you Jack, when I knew you needed me." He paused for breath, and Jack looked at him, stunned.

"And Jack, I'm sorry for what I said to you. I was selfish and unnecessarily cruel. You're not 'wrong' in fact I've never met someone so right and good."

The Doctor blinked at him uncertainly. "And I don't know exactly what your team will say or do, but I know that they will see you for the wonderfully brave man that I know."

Jack stood slowly, and made sure the Doctor was looking at him before he spoke.

"Thanks Doc." He grinned. "But you know, I knew and forgave you all that a long time ago." His smile faded, and he looked a bit ashamed. "And I'm also sorry. I'm sorry for not being able to come with you. If you had asked me a year before I jumped onto the Tardis, I would have said yes in a heartbeat, but I can't leave them. Not now. I need to see that they are all alright."

Jack grinned again. "Thank you Doctor. For everything." And he walked over to the side entrance to the Hubb unsure whether or not he wanted the Time-Lord to follow him.

The Doctor followed.

TBC

**A/N Okay. This is my first ever fanfiction for any genre. And I'm a bit nervous. But. Any and all feedback will be greatly appreciated. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Obviously not mine. I like happy endings. Not like RTD. All rights belong to the BBC and the creators of both Torchwood and Dr. Who. **

Jack stood in the shadows by the entrance to the Hub, watching the team interact with each other. He felt a profound sense of relief at seeing them all, and felt a weight he had not realised he had been carrying lift from his shoulders.

Making sure he was firmly concealed in the doorway Jack watched his team, his Torchwood work. To a soundtrack of muted swearing and grumbling, Gwen and Owen heaved what appeared to be a giant amphibian-like creature to the morgue. Tosh was standing by the centre workstations quietly analysing samples.

Jack could not see Ianto, but assumed he was either archiving the fish-creatures data, or cleaning the smell of it from the SUV.

When he was sure that the only sound that could be heard in the hub was that of Tosh's gentle, lighting fast typing, Jack plastered a grin onto his face and stepped forwards, directly into her line of vision.

Injecting confidence into his voice, Jack was the first to speak. "Not sure, but I think I've seen these things before. Seem to recall that they like to drive fast…" he trailed off as with a crash, Tosh dropped both of the glasses she was holding and with a loud gasp, flew at him. "Jack!"

"Umm." He smiled softly into her hair. "Hi Tosh." There was a moments silence.

"Jack, I'm so glad you're back," Tosh's voice was muffled. "Nothings been the same without you."

T.W

"Tosh? You alright?" A voice echoed up from the medical bay, followed by fast thuds of footsteps.

"Tosh?"

Both Owen and Gwen stopped at the top of the stairs.

"Oh. Right."

Jack looked up at them both and waited for the silence to break. He did not have to wait long, as once Gwen had pushed her way past the frozen Owen, she ran up towards the Captain, and launched her fist into his face.

"You left us Jack! You left Ianto you bastard!" Gwen's fists continued making contact with the Captain's chest, but the Welshwoman's energy and force behind them had gone.

"You left us Jack," she sobbed again, falling gracelessly against him.

Jack had not protested against the onslaught, and stood cradling her in his arms. He looked up at Tosh and Owen, who had watched the scene in silence.

"Where's Ianto?"

"Achieves" Owen's response was frosty. "Where he's been almost constantly for the last six months. He's taken the lions share of the work Jack. Work you let when you disappeared off the face of the earth."

Jack waited until Owen had finished, and then raced of in the direction that would take him closer to the young Welshman.

T.W.

Jack reached the correct corridor in the maze that made up the lower levels of the hub, and paused, looking at the solid door separating him from Ianto.

Jack sunk to the floor with his head in his hands.

T.W.

The Doctor shook his head, and stepped out from the shadows.

TBC

Sorry It's so abysmally short. Next chapter will be a lot longer (and definitely updated quicker)

Thank you so much to those who had reviewed. Your kind words meant a lot to me.


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